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World's Largest Marshmallow Fight, 2011
World's Largest Marshmallow Fight, 2011
On December 2, 2011, 473 students and adults of Eisenhower Junior High School (EJHS) in Taylorsville, Utah, set a new world record for the World's Largest Marshmallow Fight, by throwing or tossing 2,000 pounds of 140,280 regular-sized marshmallows at each other for nearly fifteen minutes. The participants were separated by a "no-man's-land" of twenty feet on the school's field (after school was officially over for students on that day). This new world record has been accepted by The Book of Alternative Records (BAR) in Germany, Record Setter of New York and World Records Academy of Florida. The previous record for this kind of event was set on July 5, 2011, when hundreds of people reportedly threw over 600 pounds of marshmallows at each other at the annual Ocean Beach Marshmallow Fight in Ocean Beach, California. (Prior to 2011, an online claim of 130,000 marshmallows were reportedly thrown by 2,500 people in Illinois--but this claim has never been verified.)
The Book of Alternative Records (BAR) lists two rules for this world record: 1) This event is to take place between people who are separated by a desired distance and who throw or toss soft marshmallows at each other over a certain period of time; and 2) This record is based on the known number of people who participate in the event, the known or calculated number of marshmallows used in the event, and the known or calculated weight of all the marshmallows thrown or tossed in the event.
In addition, to maintain uniformity and maximize safety during this event, World Records for Schools (WRS) suggested the following six rules for this record: 1) This record attempt is to take place between two groups of people who are separated by a "no-man's-land" of at least twenty feet; 2) only regularly-sized commercially-made marshmallows are to be used (which marshmallows are about one-inch tall and one-inch wide); 3) the marshmallows must be fresh and soft and not altered by cooking or hardened by freezing; 4) the marshmallows are to be thrown or tossed between the two groups of people over a certain period of time; 5) the number of participants must be counted and known; and 6) the record is based on the known or calculated number of marshmallows thrown or tossed between the two groups of people and the known or calculated total weight of all marshmallows used in the event.
All of the above rules of The Book of Alternative Records (BAR) and World Records for Schools (WRS) were followed by students and adults at Eisenhower Junior High School (EJHS) during this world record attempt.
To set this new world record, Eisenhower Junior High School (EJHS) used regular-sized marshmallows which were provided to the school at a substantial discount by Western Family and Associated Foods of Utah and from Fresh Market of Taylorsville, Utah (located at 4700 South Redwood Road in Taylorsville, Utah). All participants donated $2.00 each to be in the event, which money was used to purchase marshmallows and donated to charities.
(Note: Online information sources state that marshmallows are confection-type candy that typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin--that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavorings, and sometimes coloring, which are then whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites. Today, marshmallows are sweetened with sucrose. They are currently prepared by aeration using mixtures of sucrose and proteins to a specific density. The viscosity of the mixture, owing to the proteins, gelatin or egg albumin, prevents collapse of the air-filled cells. The use of marshmallows as candy dates back to ancient Egypt, where the recipe called for extracting sap from the marshmallow plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. The modern marshmallow confection was developed over the last century.)
Media Links:
Eisenhower Jr. High School World Record Marshmallow Fight - via YouTube (submitted by a faculty member of Eisenhower Junior High School from student and faculty non-copyrighted videos of the event)
World's Largest Marshmallow Fight - via YouTube (submitted from a Salt Lake Tribune newspaper video photographer)
Eisenhower Jr. High Students Aim For World Record With Marshmallow Fight - via Salt Lake Tribune newspaper (news story, photos and video). Also see this article in the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.
Marshmallows Go Flying During World Record Attempt - via KLS News Television (Ch.5) news story
Largest Marshmallow Fight world record - via The Book of Alternative Records (Germany) website
Largest Marshmallow Fight world record - via World Record Academy (of Florida) website
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